Land consolidation of small-scale farms in preparation for a cane harvester

- Land consolidation of small-scale farms is needed when adopting a harvester.
- A mathematical model and a greedy algorithm are developed for land consolidation.
- The proposed algorithm gives good solutions while using less computational time.
- The plough-out and consolidation plan is likely to increase the efficiency of the harvester.

The cane cultivation areas of certain countries are primarily composed of small-scale farms. To adopt harvesting machinery efficiently, consolidating these small plots is essential. However, the decision to plough out cane ratoon to synchronize the cultivation process in consolidated land area is complicated because the plots have different cane ages and different ownerships. To address this problem, we develop a mathematical model and a heuristic method based on the greedy algorithm to create a consolidation and plough-out plan. The solution obtained using the heuristic method differs from the optimal solution less than 1.5% for small cases of 5, 10, and 15 cane plots and requires less computational time. The proposed heuristics, when used to solve large-sized problems, suggest a plan with benefits that are approximately 49.39% higher than those of the conventional unsynchronized method. This approach is likely to facilitate consolidation planning for sugar mills and cane growers, resulting in more efficient harvester utilization.